The Spaniard is confident of getting a good result in the race
Ericsson, leader of the Championship, will start eighth
Alex Palou will have to pull epic to come back following a poor qualifying in Detroit. The Barcelona native, currently third in the Championship, will start eighteenth and is in danger of losing contact with his head.
Last year, the first of the two races on this street layout, he choked; he started twenty-second and in the end he finished fifteenth. But in the second, things were better: he started fourth to finish third. Only this time Detroit is a one off race.
“It has not been the best session for us. We will have to work a little more on Sunday to try to get a result”, he limited himself to pointing out.
Marcus Ericsson, teammate in Ganassi and leader of the championship, and Pato O’Ward, second in the standings, start eighth and fifth respectively, while on Pole we find Josef Newgarden, who has set the fastest time in the ‘Top 6’ following making a spectacular last lap.
With everything, Newgarden has not matched the time he had made in the ‘top 12’. As always, Qualifying Round 2, the one reserved for the top twelve, was faster; so much so that Colton Herta, the seventh and first eliminated from this series, had a better time than the pole position in Newgarden.
Newgarden has snatched Pole from Takuma Sato, while Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castro Neves will start on the second row. This time the veteran champions call the shots. The best ‘youngsters’ were Pato O’Ward and David Malukas, who will start from the third row.
Perhaps the grid might have been different if Romain Grosjean hadn’t suffered a knock in the closing moments of the ‘Fast 12’. Colton Herta, Ericsson and Scott Dixon have thus seen their last attempt aborted. Ericsson also lamented that Dixon —both of them run with Ganassi— bothered him and braked, preventing him from setting a better time.
In Detroit it’s not easy to overtake. Palou will have to cross his fingers so that this time the neutralization periods, which there will be, are favorable to him, not like in Indy where he lost the race for it.
GRILL
| POS. | PILOT | EQUIPMENT | WEATHER |
| 1. |
J. Newgarden |
Team Penske |
1’15″215 |
| 2. |
T. Sato |
Dale Coyner Racig |
1’15″349 |
| 3. |
S. Pagenaud |
Meyer Shank Racing |
1’15″395 |
| 4. |
H. Castroneves |
Meyer Shank Racing |
1’15″453 |
| 5. |
P. O’Ward |
Arrow McLaren SP |
1’16″330 |
| 6. |
D. Malukas |
Dale Coyner Racig |
1’16″610 |
| 7. |
C.Herta |
Andretti Autosport W / |
1’15″104 |
| 8. |
M. Ericsson |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
1’15″227 |
| 9. |
M. Dixon |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
1’15″407 |
| 10. |
S. McLaughlin |
Team Penske |
1’15″867 |
| 11. |
A. Rossi |
Andretti Autosport |
1’16″217 |
| 12. |
R. Grosjean |
Andretti Autosport |
1’16″974 |
| 13. |
C. Daly |
Ed Carpenter Racing |
1’16″015 |
| 14. |
R. Veekay |
Ed Carpenter Racing |
1’15″571 |
| 15. |
K. Kirwood |
A.J Foyt Enterprises |
1’16″125 |
| 16. |
W. Power |
Team Penske |
1’15″573 |
| 17. |
S. Ferruci |
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing |
1’16″139 |
| 18. |
A. Palou |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
1’15″612 |
| 19. |
C. Lundgaard |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
1’16″306 |
| 20. |
J. Harvey |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan |
1’16″834 |
| 21. |
D. DeFrancesco |
Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport |
1’16″337 |
| 22. |
J. Johnson |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
1’17″549 |
| 23. |
G. Rahal |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
1’16″426 |
| 24. |
T. Calderon |
A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
1’18″365 |
| 25. |
D. Kellet |
A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
|
| 26. |
F. Rosenqvist |
Arow McLaren SP |
1’18″629 |
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